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I'll post more details later but wanted to get this up before my computer crashes again. I hope others will post to this thread too and maybe it will get stickied.

I'm posting this because I have had some extensive challenges nursing my Son who was born Mid March 2014.
He lost too much weight during his first 5 days and we had to supplement. We used at the breast supplementation. The Dr didn't look into reasons for the weight loss and later poor weight gain, it was largely attributed to me and a poor milk supply but I was offered no help in figuring out why. The supplementing masked the true cause (my poor milk supply was actually really a symptom) which turned out to be tongue and lip ties but since they were not diagnosed early and the correction didn't happen till 8 weeks, we also needed to get some physical therapy to re-train his oral motor skills. We have been getting therapy from a speech therapist and doing exercises 5 times a day for a couple weeks and we are just now starting to see some signs of improvement.

I had a heck of a time figuring out where to go to get my son treated and then who to go to for therapy since only some IBCLC's seem to be experienced in suck-re-training of older infants. Seems most LC are more experienced in newborns and dealing with initial latch issues and not necessarily how to deal with teaching an older infant how to use newly freed up muscles. With the help of our WIC LCs I did finally find a speech therapist who does work with infants and breastfeeding issues.

If anyone out there reads this early on I advise having baby specifically checked for tongue and lip ties before even leaving the hospital, even if nursing doesn't seem to hurt much. Tongue ties are best treated ASAP since the longer you wait the less likely that the improvement will be instant (the longer they have to learn to compensate in order to eat, the harder it will be for them to Re-learn to nurse without hurting mommy.)

Re: Resources for Milk Transfer Issues

If doctors tell you that you need to supplement, Make sure they look into WHY. If they don't help to figure out WHY, seek another opinion ASAP. Poor weight gain is a sign of an issue that needs to be addressed. Supplementing is just a stop gap fix that should be done in as breastfeeding supportive a way as possible while the real issue is addressed. Too much supplementing can mask other problems so definitely get help.

Re: Resources for Milk Transfer Issues

There are also Tongue Tie Support groups out there. There is a big on on Facebook as well as a local one near me that I've joined. I'm sure there are may around that you might be able to find something local to make searching for help easier.

Re: Resources for Milk Transfer Issues

Thanks for the links. My baby was also born with a tongue-tie. It was revised at 5 months. I didn't really have supply issues, except for the occasional drops but the supply always came back up on its own (I'mt thinking they were hormonal). I only got it revised because I knew he could be eating better (it was painful for the beginning but then it stopped hurting to nurse once my supply regulated at about 3 months). Since then he actually ENJOYS to eat and opens his mouth once he's at the breast. Used to be he just opened his mouth a drop if at all - I usually had to open for him. He did not need any special retraining - he did it on his own - but it took about 10 days or so until he mastered it. He'd nurse for less time after the procedure, probably because those muscles are tired from not being used until now.

Re: Resources for Milk Transfer Issues

Originally Posted by @llli*ruchiccio

Thanks for the links. My baby was also born with a tongue-tie. It was revised at 5 months. I didn't really have supply issues, except for the occasional drops but the supply always came back up on its own (I'mt thinking they were hormonal). I only got it revised because I knew he could be eating better (it was painful for the beginning but then it stopped hurting to nurse once my supply regulated at about 3 months). Since then he actually ENJOYS to eat and opens his mouth once he's at the breast. Used to be he just opened his mouth a drop if at all - I usually had to open for him. He did not need any special retraining - he did it on his own - but it took about 10 days or so until he mastered it. He'd nurse for less time after the procedure, probably because those muscles are tired from not being used until now.

Well he probably needed to nurse for less time since without a tongue tie restricting him it probably became much easier to get the milk he needed. Thank you for sharing your experience!

Re: Resources for Milk Transfer Issues

Well he probably needed to nurse for less time since without a tongue tie restricting him it probably became much easier to get the milk he needed. Thank you for sharing your experience!

I meant that after the procedure he would tire quickly and nurse for about 5 minutes instead of the previous 15 minutes. After 10 days he began to eat normally and consistently for about 7-8 minutes. That was his new efficient speed. Not the 5 minutes. These days, 3 months later, he eats for 5-6 minutes.

Re: Resources for Milk Transfer Issues

Originally Posted by @llli*ruchiccio

I meant that after the procedure he would tire quickly and nurse for about 5 minutes instead of the previous 15 minutes. After 10 days he began to eat normally and consistently for about 7-8 minutes. That was his new efficient speed. Not the 5 minutes. These days, 3 months later, he eats for 5-6 minutes.

Re: Resources for Milk Transfer Issues

There are resources here that can also be of use to people with good even too much milk supply.
Babies who have problems transfering milk may also have trouble dealing with protecting their airway while eating. The whole coughing/choking while nursing due to overactive letdown isn't Always actually due to a fast flow. If a baby has a problem with disorganized sucking, they may have trouble protecting the airway even with a fairly slow flow so if flow is more normal or even fast, such a baby could have a really hard time.

Re: Resources for Milk Transfer Issues

My LO is now done with the Oral Motor Therapy with the Speech therapist. He is now able to transfer milk well (get a full tummy in 10-15 minutes,) at least when I'm full and he is not fussing due to teething or being a distractable 4 1/2 month old.